How many times have we heard the phrase “The era of Big Government is over”?

And the government just gets larger and larger in an all consuming race to engulf everything and everyone. Nothing and no one is beyond it’s reach.

A few years ago, back when Government was just a bit smaller than today, it was the Liberals that wanted more… of everything. America was more responsible financially in those days and Liberals became known as Tax and Spend Liberals.

But raising taxes to pay for ever growing social programs was not a popular idea. So “Tax and Spend” gave way to “Borrow and Spend”. That way, politicians could buy votes, give people more and more “stuff” and make it look like it didn’t cost a dime. Like it was free money.

Uncle Sam became Uncle Sugar.

Gluttony is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Even New York Mayor Nanny Bloomberg is on the warpath against Gluttony. Unfortunately, it is the human gluts he is targeting. Government is free to super-size everything while mere mortals must settle for smaller portions. In small portions, sipping a sugary soft drink is refreshing and totally harmless.

Even alcohol has health benefits if consumed in small quantities.

How is it that the left wing nannies who want to take away our drinks, limit our food intake and control the portions of everything we see, do and eat are completely oblivious to the fact that a gluttonous government is unhealthy?

The few small voices on the Republican side wanting to cut spending and shrink the bloated Leviathan we call the US Government are met with cat calls and ridicule and accusations of being an anti-government radical.

“The Republican Party in the Congress is dominated by anti-government ideologues, and they will forever, forever want to reduce taxes on special interest, make cuts in the education of our children and in the care of our seniors and the rest because they do not believe in government,”

Anti-government ideologues – the likes of which we haven’t seen since Patrick Henry and many of the Founders of this Nation walked the Earth.

It is rumored that when Patrick Henry said “Give me Liberty or give me death” that Nancy was there in attendance at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Va and whispered to her companion, Robert Byrd “the latter can be arranged”.

And Republicans are not without blame for the massive growth of Government, although the above cited quote by Pelosi goes on to blame the bulk of the National Debt on Republicans and 8 years of Bush:

“So curious that in the eight years of the Bush administration, while the bulk of this deficit was being amassed, you didn’t hear them say, boo, hoo, woo, any deficit hawk bird sound you can come up with. They were — it was an endangered species, the deficit hawk.”

Sorry to burst your bubble, Nana, but Obama has set a new record for debt, rapidly eclipsing Bush’s 8 years of out of control spending in his first 4 years.

The Debt rose $4.899 trillion during the two terms of the Bush presidency. It has now gone up $4.939 trillion since President Obama took office.

The latest posting from the Bureau of Public Debt at the Treasury Department shows the National Debt now stands at $15.566 trillion. It was $10.626 trillion on President Bush’s last day in office, which coincided with President Obama’s first day.

The National Debt also now exceeds 100% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, the total value of goods and services.

Mr. Obama has been quick to blame his predecessor for the soaring Debt, saying Mr. Bush paid for two wars and a Medicare prescription drug program with borrowed funds.

The federal budget sent to Congress last month by Mr. Obama, projects the National Debt will continue to rise as far as the eye can see. The budget shows the Debt hitting $16.3 trillion in 2012, $17.5 trillion in 2013 and $25.9 trillion in 2022.

Federal budget records show the National Debt once topped 121% of GDP at the end of World War II. The Debt that year, 1946, was, by today’s standards, a mere $270 billion dollars.

Mr. Obama doesn’t mention the National Debt much, though he does want to be seen trying to reduce the annual budget deficit, though it’s topped a trillion dollars for four years now.

As part of his “Win the Future” program, Mr. Obama called for “taking responsibility for our deficits, by cutting wasteful, excessive spending wherever we find it.”

Unfettered government growth will be the ruin of America, honest thinkers cannot doubt that.

While Democrats turn to government as the solution to all problems, what they don’t understand is that they are simply adding a “middle man” who takes a massive cut out of American production to feed itself before passing on the change to the intended recipient. The only thing government does with great efficiency is spend money.

When the government intercedes in transactions between business and consumer, there is always a cost for the government involvement. Instead of making things cheaper as government always promises, the price always increases. In the end, a simple deal between two individuals will be made more costly and less efficient by the government “help”. Rarely is there an overall benefit – and the benefit is always costly to both the manufacturer and the consumer. And the consumer always ends up with the bill.

And government continues to grow.

There is a proper size for a healthy balance with everything. Fire, food, rain, nuclear power. you name it. In small portions all of these are controllable and beneficial. Yet all can grow to have devastating consequences if not carefully controlled.

Government is no different. In small doses it is easy to control, but like wildfire, nuclear meltdowns and floods, too much of a good and necessary thing is fatal.

Tom is a US Navy Veteran, owns an Insurance Agency and is currently an IT Manager for a Virginia Distributor. He has been published in American Thinker, currently writes for the Richmond Examiner as well as Virginia Right! Blog.Tom lives in Hanover County, Va and is involved in politics at every level and is a Recovering Republican who has finally had enough of the War on Conservatives in progress with the Leadership of the GOP on a National Level.

18 Responses to “Gluttony – Big Government’s Deadly Sin”

Actually, I think the characteristic “Deadly Sin” of Big Government is Pride. The specific form it takes is the belief that government experts can manage the economy, society, etc. better than it can be managed by individual decisions.